Harry Glenn

He Pursued His Dream

Harry Glenn was the pride of his family, the fourth of five boys, the son who said he was going to college to learn all about computers, and then went and did it. Mr. Glenn's father, Roosevelt, loved to brag about his boy Harry, 38, how he kept his promise and how he managed to get a good job looking after Marsh & McLennan's elaborate network of computers. "A lot of people didn't believe he could come out of Harlem and do as well as he did," Mr. Glenn said. "But Harry had a goal that he set for himself, and he followed it. I don't think he had any idea how many people were proud of him."

Mr. Glenn continues to hope that his son's body will be found amid the ruins of the World Trade Center. He hopes for that day, just as he does for the day when he can forget what he saw on television on Sept 11. "I stopped watching the news. But I don't think I'm ever going to get seeing that plane hit his building out of my mind. It just won't go away."

Profile published in THE NEW YORK TIMES on October 3, 2001.

Harry Glenn, 38, father figure on the block

It took a week for Sharon Glenn to tell her 7-year-old, Jalen, that his father had died in the World Trade Center attacks.

For several days she had been telling him "Daddy had been hurt very badly and that we needed to pray," Glenn said.

"God only takes angels," Mrs. Glenn said of her 38-year-old husband Harry. "He was my hero and an angel . . . He was my best friend, my husband, my confidant, a great father."

And she knows Jalen will carry special memories for the rest of his life.

"They did family things. Harry made sure of that," Mrs. Glenn said, recalling the times father and son went on roller coasters.

Sharon met Harry Glenn while both were attending North Carolina Central University in Durham. They both graduated with business administration degrees.

Mr. Glenn, who was raised in New York City, moved to Piscataway in 1983 and began working for AT&T. He stayed there 14 years, earning senior management positions.

He left to take a position at Bankers Trust and then consulted for Sapient Corp. before being hired at Marsh & McLennan at the World Trade Center. He had been assistant vice president in the global technology service department.

"He was a very focused individual," Mrs. Glenn said. "A very hard worker . . . Everybody loved Harry. He just had that gift. He was always helping out."

He was not only a good father to his son, but a father figure to neighborhood children.

"He was a very good person to everybody. He spoke to everybody, he was a very warm person," said Susan Burwell, whose family lived next to the Glenns for seven years.

He volunteered in a black leadership mentoring program while at AT&T as well as other mentoring programs throughout his career.

New York City Police Officer Steven Mayfield was Mr. Glenn's best friend. They grew up in East Harlem and kept in touch.

Mayfield last saw Mr. Glenn about 11/2 weeks before the attacks. "He called me and said you have to come down so we can do lunch . . . We had the time of our life. We reminisced. We talked about everything under the sun," Mayfield said.

Mr. Glenn also is survived by his parents, Birdie and Roosevelt Glenn Sr.; four brothers, James Glenn, Franklin Murray, Roosevelt Glenn Jr. and Donald Glenn; his paternal grandmother, Fannie Glenn Trapp of the Bronx, and his maternal grandmother, Bertha Murray. All survivors reside in New York City.

A memorial service will be held at 7 p.m., Oct. 19 at North Stelton AME Church in Piscataway. Another is scheduled for 2 p.m., Oct. 20 at the Greater Emmanuel Baptist Church, 325 E. 118th St., New York City.